The big K

That's right folks, it's almost time for kindergarten. The kid will be attending our fancy area school where they have all day, every day kindergarten. She will take the bus this year and walk after that. 

I always imagined I'd feel very emotional or sad about her starting school, real school. This has not been the case. I am relieved that it's finally time for her to start school. Academically she was probably ready last year but emotional and social stuff is huge for her (meaning they are not areas where she excels so more time to learn has been helpful) and she's improved a lot in this year. 

I wonder if it will hit me at some point that this is real, that I haven't filled out paperwork in triplicate just for fun, that her days will be profoundly different now and forever. Maybe it already did in a sneaky way and I've accepted it so totally it doesn't phase me anymore. 

I read this great article recently about the eleven or some other number of things you need to know to be a great parent, and the most important thing it said was that parenting is cyclic and so if you screw up the first time, you get a do-over in a few years. I am glad this continues to be true even after age 5. We are approaching another first day of school. For the first day of preschool, I couldn't find a real camera so I used my webcam on my laptop to take a few pictures. They are terribly grainy but cute nonetheless. She was SO excited for school. I am hoping we get some momentum and excitement built up for school to start but I won't hold my breath. Maybe when the new backpack with a picture of her favorite stuffed animal on it arrives it will seem real to her & she will get excited. So we will see. There's still some time left.